This invention relates generally to methods and systems for tracking items entrusted to an establishment for service or repair and, more particularly, to methods and systems for tracking film entrusted to an establishment for development.
Many casual photographers use camera film that they have developed by commercial vendors. These vendors typically have the customers write data onto an envelope in which their photographs and negatives are returned. The film roll container is then placed in the envelope and sent to a photo processing lab. At the lab, the film roll is developed and the negatives and developed photographs are sealed in the envelope from which the film was retrieved. The envelope is then returned to the vendor""s location where the customer deposited the film roll container, which is typically a retail store.
When a customer deposits the film roll container, a sign usually informs the customer that film deposited on that day is returned to that location on a particular date. The customer then knows to return to the store on or after that date to pick up the developed film and photographs. This method puts the onus on the customer to check with the store and see if the film has been returned from the processing lab. Customer frustration arises whenever the customer returns after the designated date for the developed photographs and the envelope with the developed film is not available. A variety of reasons exist for this problem. For one, the photo processing lab may have been inundated with significant number of film containers and delays in processing occur from the unanticipated volume. For example, holidays and graduations cause people to take many photographs and submit their film for development. Customers are informed by the personnel at the deposit location that they are unaware of the cause of the delay at the processing lab and that the customer must call or return to the deposit location at a later time for the processed film. Other reasons for film processing delays include development equipment failure and errors in handling film rolls during processing.
Another customer problem may occur when a customer deposits more than one film container. Each film container requires a separate envelope. Handling of the envelope, either during shipment or processing, by various personnel may cause envelopes containing film containers deposited at the same time to be separated. Consequently, the film may be processed at different times and returned to the location where they were deposited at different times. Again, the customer must check with the deposit location until all of the envelopes are returned. If the customer wants to view some of the photographs before all of them are returned, multiple trips must be made to the deposit location. Frustration with multiple trips or telephone calls to determine when a customer may retrieve developed photos may cause a customer to shop and have film developed at a business other than the deposit location.
One way of addressing these problems would be to notify customers directly when envelopes containing their developed film have been received at the location where the film was deposited. Such service would require someone to inventory the received envelopes each day. Then the person would need to call each person identified on the envelope to inform them of the arrival of the envelope. If the customer""s phone was busy or the customer did not have an answering machine, the person at the deposit location may expend a significant amount of time on the notification tasks rather than tasks that might contribute more directly to the profitability of the business. Consequently, the overhead costs associated with such service are usually deemed too cost prohibitive for implementation of such service.
What is needed is a way of notifying customers that developed photographs are available for them to retrieve without being cost prohibitive.
What is needed is a way of communication between a photo processing lab and deposit location regarding the status of film rolls being processed.
What is needed is a system that notifies a customer regarding the availability of each film roll deposited for processing.
What is needed is a system that continues to notify a customer regarding the availability of developed film rolls until the customer is provided a reasonable opportunity to retrieve the rolls.
The above-noted limitations of previously known methods for receiving and returning developed film have been overcome by a system and method that operate in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The method of the present invention includes storing customer identification data in a data repository that accompanies a film roll container, reading customer identification data from the data repository after development of the film roll in the film container, and generating a notification message for delivery to the customer corresponding to the customer identification data. The notification message informs the customer that the developed film is available for retrieval from the deposit site. Entry of the data for storage in the data repository may be performed by a customer or deposit site employee through a keypad or through a scanning device that reads a customer token.
The method may be implemented with a system made in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The system includes a data capture device for reading customer identification and film roll data, a data server for storing the data in a data repository, and a notification message generator for generating a notification message to the customer corresponding to the customer identification data. The data capture device may be a keypad or barcode reader at the film container deposit site. Data identifying the customer may be entered manually through the keypad by employees of the site or by a customer responding to questions displayed on a screen located near the keypad. When the data capture device is a barcode reader, a deposit site may issue customer tokens, such as plastic cards, that contain customer identification data encoded in a bar code or magnetic stripe affixed to the token. The data capture device may use the data read from the customer token to print a label having legible data and/or a bar code that identifies the customer, the film container, and the deposit site. This label may be applied to an envelope in which the film container is placed or it may be applied directly to the film container. Once the film has been developed at a photo processing lab, the data may be read from the label and used by a server at the photo processing lab to generate status update messages. The status update messages may be electronic mail (email) messages that are sent to the server at the deposit site. Additionally, one or more of the status messages may be addressed to the user""s email address as identified in the customer data read from the label. Alternatively, the server at the deposit site may send to the customer as notification messages one or more of the status messages received from the photo processing lab. Notification messages may also be voice mail messages that are delivered via an automated telemarketing system to the customer. In another embodiment of the present invention, the server at the deposit site may obtain data from a data repository accompanying a developed film roll shipped to the deposit site to update its records regarding the status of the film container and then generate one or more notification messages to the customer. The notification message(s) may be delivered to a customer via email as voice mail. Once a customer receives the notification message via email or by phone, the customer may confidently return to the deposit site and retrieve the developed photographs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide to customers notification regarding the availability of developed film rolls for retrieval.
It is an object of the present invention to provide communication between deposit sites and processing labs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide availability notification to a customer regarding each film roll deposited by a customer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide reasonably sufficient notice to a customer of a developed film roll""s availability for retrieval that customer notification is reliable and effective.
These and other advantages and features of the present invention may be discerned from reviewing the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of the invention.